Glitchy Red Retold
by ChurlBuddeh
Summary: Derrick purchases a copy of Pokemon Red from eBay. What he does not know is this game's true potential, who the character he plays truly is, or what he is about to become a part of.
1. Package

"Derrick…Derrick, you left your phone downstairs. Come answer it!"

Scraggly tufts of hair began to reluctantly emerge from beneath the comforter on the bed, mildly irritated grumbling following soon after. A brisk knock came from the opposite side of the room after the brief rhythm of feet pounding up stairs.

"Derrick! Did you hear me? One of your friends is on the phone downstairs...I'm not going to tolerate hearing them call three or four times. Get out of bed and go answer it!"

"_Why couldn't you have brought the phone upstairs to me, mom…?_" droned the thoughts of the boy beneath that comforter. He fought with his subconscious for a moment, deciding that he would be continuously bothered until he got up and went downstairs to obey his mother's orders. Two legs, imprints covering the skin from lying on wadded-up sheets overnight, fumbled their way into the lazy morning air as Derrick sat up in bed and heaved a sleepy sigh.

"Derrick!"

"Hang on, I'm coming…!" he murmured half-heartedly, stumbling out of bed, running a hand through his ruffled hair, and scowling at the florescent light of the hallway that greeted his sensitive gaze as he opened his door and made his way downstairs. He reached his cell phone just moments before the ringer stopped, and the high-pitched jingle engaged to tell him that he now had two missed calls. Derrick grunted, his eyes ablaze in the attempt to blink the remaining sleep from his eyes, and he dialed a return call to the contacted called 'Scott.'

"Yo," he greeted the inside of his phone after a few synthetic rings, "I just woke up; sorry I missed your calls. What's up?"

"It's almost one o'clock, wanna run with me to get some food?" responded the voice of his friend, the soft hum of a vehicle audible in the background. "I've needed to get out of the house for a while, and I'm getting kinda bored of driving around your neighborhood waiting for you to answer your cell."

Derrick had furrowed his brows and sauntered to the window carved ornately into his front door, peering into the summer streets of Pallet Drive. "Creeper," he remarked into the phone as he saw Scott's red Cavalier inch past his front lawn. "Gimme 10 minutes to pull myself together, and we'll head to Subway, or something."

"Sounds good." A soft click, and Derrick's phone reverted to its home screen. Derrick laid his phone back where he had found it, and trod back up the stairs to the bathroom, where he could more closely examine the damage he had done to his hair and skin while he slept.

"Mom," he called, brushing his hands through his hair some more, "I'm going out for lunch with Scott."

"I'll assume that was his car that was looming about our house earlier today, then," she responded. "Oh, Derrick, don't forget to keep an eye out for your package, alright?"

Derrick lazily squirted toothpaste onto his toothbrush and thought for a moment. "Is that supposed to come today?"

"Well, it's Friday, and you haven't gotten it in a couple of weeks, so it should be coming any day now. Just check the mailbox before you get in, sweetie." Derrick mumbled in acknowledgement, his mouth filled with suds of Aquafresh toothpaste.

"You're a pig, Scott," Derrick chuckled as his friend slid a half-eaten Subway sandwich from its plastic bag, wadding the wrapping material at the bottom of it, and ripped a large chunk of it into his mouth.

"Whur a' a stopligh'," he mumbled with his mouth full of bread and deli meat.

"Not my point. I thought the rest of that was supposed to be your dinner tonight." Scott shrugged, and continued to make light work of his 'dinner.' Meanwhile, borderline suburban/city traffic buzzed menacingly around the Cavalier in anticipation for a green light. Derrick listened to the soft gurgle of the intersection, trying to mentally guess radio stations in the stereos of louder cars, until his eyes caught the dark brown of a UPS vehicle.

"Oh yeah," he piped up, "Stop at my mailbox when we get back to the house?"

"Sure," Scott replied, laying his sandwich back on his lap to botchily wrap it up just as the light ahead turned green, "only if you'll let me finish this at your house and raid your fridge for a drink. What're you expecting in the mail?"

"I got something off eBay a few weeks ago, and I should be getting it any day now."

"What'd you get, a video game?"

"Yeah, Pokémon Red." His friend chuckled.

"What for? I thought you already had a copy of that game. Did you lose it?"

"Nah, I still have that copy. I bought another copy so I could mess around with glitches and not have to worry about messing the game up. It was cheap, so yeah." Derrick's eyes locked with his house as they approached it. Pulling slowly into the edge of the driveway, he got out of the car and jogged to the mailbox, its lid protruding open. He let the lid fall as he pulled out bills, magazine subscriptions, and a small-ish brown envelope.

"Yup, that's it…"


	2. Cartridge

"Did your package come in the mail, sweetie?" Derrick heard his mother call from the kitchen as he and Scott entered through the front door. He weighed the small envelope in his hand as it was mentioned, and joined his mother in the kitchen.

"Yeah, it did." Placing himself next to his friend in one of the in-kitchen dining room chairs, he gingerly tore the tape and wrappings from the package, slipping a hand inside and pulling out its contents: a thank you post-it note from the seller, and the game itself. He turned it over in his hands, examining it, listening to the sound of Scott munching away at the remnants of his sandwich all the while. Something felt off.

"Scott, do you see anything different about this cartridge?" he asked, handing the little red square over to him. Scott took the cartridge and looked it over with little care, giving a shrug afterward.

"Looks like a regular Pokemon game to me."

"No, seriously. Hang on." Derrick stood from the table, leaving the cartridge with Scott, and headed upstairs to his room. On his bedside table was an Game Boy Color, with a similar red cartridge poking from its depths. Pulling the game from the slot and making his way back downstairs, he picked the second red cartridge up and placed the two side-by-side in his palm - two Pokemon games, Red Version, in decent condition. But one of the cartridges was different. It looked altered. The two Charizards on the cartridge stickers stared at him. One was shifted, with a see-through plastic design. He could almost see the microchips through the sticker of the one he had just gotten in the mail.

"Hey, Derrick, I'mma head home," Scott interrupted his reverie, crumpling his sandwich wrapper in his hands and disposing of it in the trash. "Thanks for joining me for lunch. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, see you…" he replied almost absently, waving to his friend as he exited through the front door. After examining the two cartridges moments longer, he trod back upstairs to his room, suddenly eager to start playing his new Pokemon Fire game. He entered his room, flipped is lights on, and let his eyes swivel to where he last left his GBC.

It wasn't there.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he looked behind his bedside table. Not there. He checked beneath it, under his bed, on top of his bed. Not there, either.

_Weird_, he thought to himself, but he was still eager to begin playing. A thought came to him. Turning to the foot of his bed, he found his backpack, to which he unzipped the middlemost zipper and pulled from it a Game Boy SP.

"Hah," he chuckled, hopping onto his bed, sliding the new cartridge inside and flipping the handheld into life. The Game Boy jingle rang from the contraption's speakers, the green light of battery shone on the side of it, but the backlight he was used to in the handheld didn't flip on. "Must be a flawed copy…"

A soft buzz met Derrick's ears moments before the passed in front of a surprise trainer in the game, watching the little character walk up to him and demand a Pokemon battle. He let the 8-bit battle music engage and turned his eyes to the surface of his bed, where his phone's backlight was on. He had a message. Balancing his SP in his right hand and picking up the cell with his left, he read over his new text message.

SCOTT

HEY WANNA HANG OUT?

He input a command for his Charmeleon to attack and turned to his phone to answer.

SURE YOUR CAR OR MINE?

Balancing the phone on his knee to await another reply from Scott, he finished the battle, and smiled. His journey thus far had gained him his first badge from Pewter City by defeating Brock, and he was now mere footsteps from the end of Mt. Moon. Plowing his way through wild Pokemon (or rather, running from them), he finally saw the small hole of light in the cave that was the exit. He found himself on Route 4, when he suddenly felt his phone vibrate again. He picked it up.

SCOTT

MINE. GIMME 15 MIN AND ILL BE AT UR HOUSE.

Instead of answering, he stuffed the phone in his pocket shifted his attention back to his SP as he was beginning to cross the threshold of Route 4 to Cerulean City. He pulled his menu screen up again to save his game, leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes as he waited.

_These clothes should be fine. I should let mom know where I'm going, though…ugh…why am I suddenly so sleepy?_ He rubbed his eyes, trying to blink the desire to doze off from his eyes. _Did I really stay up that late last night?_ He let his arms drop to the bed, resting his eyes for just a moment before he got ready to go. Before he knew it, though, he had dropped beneath the line of consciousness, and was asleep.

Suddenly he jerked awake, nearly falling over as he realized he was standing. He patted his face, feeling the sleep begin to subside, and looked around him. His eyes met a vast landscape of grey, a few simple-looking houses dotting the place to make that landscape a civilization. He had the absolute oddest feeling that he recognized it. He rubbed his eyes again and walked toward the buildings, in a daze of where he was. He saw a ravine to his left with a little island a nice swim across its wake, a little man standing in front of the opening of a cave. It was also familiar. Still, he walked on, until he came across a man standing alone in the streets.

"Um, excuse me, sir?" he called to him, walking up to him gingerly. "Could you please tell me where this is?" He didn't respond. In fact, Derrick felt as though the man didn't even realize he was there. He stood perfectly still for a few more moments, before turning on his heels and walking two or three paces forward, before resuming his previous stillness. Derrick's jaw dropped.

"No…" he muttered in bewilderment, rushing past the still man, deeper into the small buildings. He suddenly knew where he was. He continued beyond other people who maintained the same position as the man, and finally came to a stop at a bigger building, one that read 'Gym.'

"I'm in Cerulean City…!"


	3. Trainer Red

A wave of panic coursed through Derrick's body as he wildly looked around him. This was definitely Cerulean City. But how in the world could he have gotten here? He pinched the exposed skin of his arm, hoping he was just asleep, and that this was just a dream. His skin responded with a sharp pang in his nerves. He held his head in his hands, sidling up against the Pokemon Gym and sliding down its wall till he was sitting, trying to stifle rising nausea and to make any sense of what was happening right now.

Suddenly sound pierced the deadly silence that he had been currently experiencing - a careening of chip sounds. He recognized that awful cluster of noises.

_Pidgeotto used Gust!_ filled his mind abruptly. Derrick felt his nausea lurch up his throat for a moment, so he focused on the gritty sounds that continued to calm himself once more. Taking a deep breath and standing, he gingerly made his way to the outskirts of the city, trying to follow the sound.

_Pidgeotto fainted! Go, Charmeleon!_

These thoughts kept appearing in his head, almost as though he were saying them - but the thoughts were heavy, pounding into his mind without warning, as though someone were speaking them into his subconscious. He massaged his temples gently, inching north of town to where the Nugget Bridge was supposed to be located.

_Charmeleon used Ember! Critical hit!_

The closer he got to the bridge, the louder the sounds became, and the heavier these battle-related thoughts pressed into his mind.

_Enemy Rattata fainted! Charmeleon gained 183 EXP. points!  
Blue sent out Squirtle!_

"Wait, Blue...!" he said aloud in bewilderment. "My mind must be intent on the battle with Blue here..."

As Derrick began to see the bridge jutting from the edge of town, he saw something else. There were two more townsfolk, standing perfectly still. What caught his eye, though, was the two forms taking up the space between the townsfolk. A Charmeleon and a Squirtle. Derrick's jaw nearly dropped as he ignored his still-sensitive nausea and raced toward the battle taking place. He was finally able to make out rival Blue as he watched from a close distance, commanding his Squirtle to attack...Red's Charmeleon!

_No way...!_ he thought, gradually allowing his lips to stretch into a fanboy's smile as he watched the battle between Blue and Red. As still as the trainers remained, the battle was like a dance; he stood there, admiring how each of the Pokemon pounced at each other or hopped out of the way from an attack. He had always dreamed of watching a real Pokemon battle aside from what he saw on television as a kid, and now his dreams had come true! Before he knew it, Red had triumphed over his rival, and soon Blue was statically making his way toward the heart of Cerulean City. For a while, Red didn't move, but unlike the other people he had thus far come across in the city, Red seemed to pulse with life, still or moving. Sheepishly, Derrick crept his way up to Red and cleared his throat.

"Um...excuse me, but can you hear me? Nobody else here can..." Red shifted a perfect 90 degrees and faced him, a sort of mellow look on his face. It took every ounce of control for Derrick to keep a straight face and not tackle Red to the ground out of excitement. "I...I know who you are, but you don't know me...my name's-"

_Derrick_.

Derrick nearly jumped as the thought pounded into his head out of nowhere. He rubbed his skull and looked up apologetically at the trainer, until he saw a thin smile etched across his face. His eyes widened, and he prepared himself to speak.

_Yes, I did that..._

Derrick formed an huge, uncontrollable grin as he wordlessly pointed to the 3 Pokeballs connected to Red's belt.

"S-So...that wasn't me thinking that battle...it was you?" Red nodded silently, suddenly turning on his heels and heading to the bridge. Derrick froze, watching the trainer make distance between them, wondering why he had broken their conversation off so quickly. _Did I act weirdly or something? Did I freak him out? Oh man...I didn't mean to. I just-" _Suddenly, Red stopped, and faced Derrick once again.

_Come with me. I'm on a journey to become a Pokemon master._


	4. Divine Intervention

Derrick hurried after Red as the trainer began to once again make his way across the bridge.

"Wait a minute!" he shouted, slowing as Red stopped abruptly in place, similar to how he remembered the pixel version of the trainer would stop. "How did you know my name? I never told it to you." Red made the gentlest of gestures in shrugging his shoulders, his eyes dead in front of him. As Derrick followed his gaze, he saw people lined up on the edges of the bridge, waiting for passersby to battle.

_Should we begin crossing the bridge?_

"What do you mean, should we? Isn't...that where you're going?"

_I don't know...is it?_

"Well, I mean, yeah!" he exclaimed, pointing beyond the bridge toward a patch of trees obscuring a house in the distance. "That's Bill's house. You'll eventually need to visit him to get S.S. Anne tickets and get the Cut HM, but you'll want to heal your Pokemon before crossing this bridge, because after the 5 trainers and a Team Rocket member to defeat, you have another variety of trainers waiting." At that, Red's eyes suddenly widened. He hesitated, before turning another static 90 degrees to face the boy.

_...You're God._

Derrick stared at him blankly. "Wait, what?"

_Are you certain that what you said about this bridge and the route that follows it are true?_

"Well...yeah. I mean, I know this place. You have to get the ship tickets from Bill so you can get on the S.S. Anne in Vermillion City and get the Cut HM to be able to take on Lt. Surge for your third gym badge." He nervously rubbed the back of his neck as Red's eyes dropped to the wood of the bridge beneath them for a moment. "W-What'd I say?"

_If what you say is actually true, Derrick...then let's go._

"Your Pokemon are really powerful, Red," piped Derrick, partially fishing for a topic as he saw the trainer emerge from the house beyond Nugget Bridge. He had hastily left Bill's laboratory when he saw the Pokemon creation he had made of himself. Red flashed a small ticket in his hands before dismounting his bag from his back and nestling the item inside of it.

_Are you going to be okay?_

"Yeah...the less realistic version's not as unnerving..." he muttered beneath his breath.

_Well...I got the tickets from the man named Bill, like you said.  
_

"Alright, good. Now we can take the long way to Vermillion City and work on your third gym badge, unless of course you haven't defeated Misty yet."

_...No, I have the Cascade Badge...why must we take the long way?_

"Because guards won't let you through the threshold between cities right now. You need to make them not thirsty anymore." Derrick began off toward the bridge, looking behind him to see Red standing still, looking at him. "Don't worry, I'll show you the way!" Still, Red didn't move. Derrick stopped, turning back to him."What's wrong?"

_You're God._

"What! What are you talking about?"

_You act as though you just dropped into this city, yet you know where everything seems to be, who everyone seems to be, and everything that I need to be doing to become a Pokemon Master...you know everything. You even know who I am. You're God._

Derrick furrowed his eyebrows, processing what had just been said to him. He wasn't sure what to say. In a way, he supposed he could consider himself Red's controller, but the name of God? "_I don't know how he'll react if I tell him what happened...maybe I shouldn't." _He found Red suddenly joining his side, looking at him intently.

_You were showing me the way to the next city...?_

"...Y-Yeah, I was. Let's go."


	5. Sickness

Red called his Pidgeotto back into its Pokeball as he won yet another Pokemon battle - against his rival at that. It remained a bit of a marvel for Derrick to watch the trainer's powerful team take on others with such vivid reality. He had been wishing over and over for this environment to be a reality in his world; that way he would be able to have a less restricted sense of communication. Thus far he had not seen one mouth move from the numerous people he had encountered, aside from Red, the extent of his emotions ranging from a thin smile to the softest of furrowing in his brows. No-one spoke, either, which made everything deafeningly silent. It was almost as though the existence in the world, aside from Pokemon, was shared entirely by Red and himself. He didn't particularly mind it, though.

_So the captain of the ship is sick...?_

"Unfortunately. But, hey! This gives you the chance to get the Cut HM. It comes nicely in handy...ugh.." Derrick suddenly felt a wave of nausea reverberate through his body. He wrapped his arms across his stomach and leaned against one of the corridor walls of the S.S. Anne, letting his head swim for a bit.

_Are you okay?_

"M'fine...just a random stomach pain. It must be from this ship, but I can't feel any rocking." Another wave of sickness, more powerful than the last one. Derrick's gag reflexes jumped in his throat. What was happening? He closed his eyes, trying to calm anything in his body long enough for him to think straight again, but to no avail. Something was going to fight its way from his body, whether he liked it or not. When he opened his eyes again, all he could see was darkness. Panicking, he tried to cry out, but his heaving insides stopped him. Before he knew it, he was falling off of his bed, catching his ankle on the wood of the foundation and finding the floor. As it dawned on him that he kept a wastebasket near his bed, his eyesight returned just in time for him to find it, draw it to his chest and allow his throat to disperse sickness into the wastebasket's depths.

"Derrick?"

Derrick flinched at the sudden sound of a human voice, recognizing it as his mother's and leaning against the side of his bed to take in what had just happened.

"Yep?"

"Are you okay, sweetie? It sounds like you just got sick." Derrick spat remnants into the wastebasket, mumbling.

"I did. I'm all good, though."

"You sure? Maybe you should come down and let me check you out."

"It's fine, mom. I'm going to Scott's today and he'll be irritated if I tell him I can't come. It was just erratic sickness." Derrick let his own words sink in for a moment before pouncing from the floor to his bed, searching his messy sheets for his cell until he found it. _What time is it? How long did I sleep?_ He unlocked the phone's screen, pulling his text message inbox into view and finding his most recent text to Scott. "Seven minutes ago...huh, I must have been dreaming, then. That was one _vivid_ dream."

"Looks like I see him pulling up now, Derrick. Are you sure you're feeling fine now?" Derrick pocketed his cell phone, when he saw his SP open and the green light shining on the side. He glanced at the screen, and saw Red, standing in the corridors of S.S. Anne. He shoved down yet another wave of nausea, tapping the START button and quickly saving his game before closing and pocketing that as well.

"Yeah...I'll be fine."


	6. Where were you?

"Dude...you look like you got hit by a train."

Derrick collapsed into the passenger seat of Scott's Cavalier, exhaling audibly through his nostrils. He wiped a hand down the front of his face, stretching his cheek muscles and yawning. He hadn't heard what had been said to him.

"What happened to you?" Scott pressed, backing the vehicle out of the driveway and beginning his way down the road.

"You seriously won't believe this..." Derrick muttered. "I was playing that bootleg cartridge while I was waiting for you, when I randomly fell asleep." Derrick's eyes drew to the window as he watched the neighborhood pass him by at about 25mph. "I had the most vivid dream I've ever experienced. I dreamed I was in the Pokemon world, and that I joined forces with Red to become a Pokemon master. It was incredible! I was having such an amazing time, when suddenly I woke up vomiting. And all this happened before you got here...it was all so weird." Derrick, let his eyes glaze over to mull on his dream, until he realized Scott hadn't said anything about it. He turned to face his driver, whose face was distorted with intensely suppressed giggling. He glared at the boy as he finally burst into a roaring laugh.

"Whoa-ho! Derrick, did you smoke something earlier today?" he exclaimed, unable to control his laughter. "I mean, I've heard some crazy reefer stories before, but Pokemon? Dude, that's just you tripping!"

"Hey, I wasn't on any drugs! It was a dream!" Derrick bitterly swallowed his chagrin, slumping more into the passenger seat. "I'm being serious, Scott. It was weird, yeah, but it was a really vivid dream."

"Maybe somebody should take a break from playing so many video games, then."

"What do you mean?"

"Face it. You play that Pokemon game like it's the only thing you know how to do."

Derrick gestured to make a retort, but reluctantly said nothing.

_If it was a dream...then how did the game suddenly get from Cerulean City to the S.S. Anne?_Derrick examined the SP's screen thoughtfully, moving his little Red character around in the dark. Scott had previously left him at his own house while he went to drop his sister at someone else's home. _Makes me glad I'm an only child_, he half-chuckled to himself. He would have been dragged along, he knew, if it weren't for his annoying nausea returning to haunt him on the way to Scott's house. It still came in small waves as he attempted to maneuver Red through the pitch-black Rock Tunnel.

He experimentally closed his eyes as he weaved through the tunnel, quickly growing irritated with the thumping sound of hitting walls and running into more Zubats. _Am I capable of playing this game in my sleep..?_ It didn't quite seem so, but how else was he able to play nearly a 2-hour's worth session in the seven minutes he was asleep? He closed his eyes again, trying to concentrate on the little memory he had in navigating this frustrating cave. Not much seemed to be happening but his character running into walls and repetitive fanfare of incoming wild Pokemon startling him. Still, he concentrated harder. Everything was so obscure just like it was supposed to be in the Rock Tunnel. He was simply too stubborn to make on of his team learn the Flash HM so he could see. He dodged wall after wall, Zubat after Geodude, trying to make his way around the cave.

"Stupid, stupid cave..."

_...Derrick?_

Derrick nearly jumped. He opened his eyes to find himself still surrounded by darkness. Was he dreaming again...?

"Red? Is that you?"

_I thought that was your voice._

"Ugh, I can't see anything. Where are you?"

_Just keep moving forward. I think we're almost out._

Derrick willed himself on, blinking every few seconds to make sure that nothing was wrong with his eyes, that he was legitimately in the Rock Tunnel. He flinched violently as he felt an almost cold hand on his shoulder.

_It's me. Derrick...where did you go, back then? You got sick, then you just left._

Derrick squinted as he thought he saw a light in the distance. He pointed, as though Red could make out his gesture.

"Look, do you think that's the end of the cave?"

_...It might be._

"Alright, get on your bike so we can finally be out of this creepy place."

Derrick grinned in spite of himself as he clumsily hoisted himself onto the back of Red's bike, the bicycle theme suddenly taking over his mind. He whistled it to himself softly to calm his mood as he and Red dodged more wild Pokemon to finally reach the end of the cave. As his eyesight finally returned to him, he dismounted the bike and began off, knowing that Lavender Town was ahead.

_Wait, Derrick._

"Mm? What's wrong?" he asked, turning to face his stone-still companion.

_How did you know I had gotten a bike...?_

"The Chairman of the Pokemon Fan Club gave you a voucher for one in Vermillion City, didn't he?" Red didn't move a muscle.

_I did, yes, and I went back to Cerulean City to get it...but that was after you left me alone on the ship..._

Derrick froze, scavenging around in his mind for anything to cover up his folly with. How was he going to explain? Red approached him, and looked him in the eye. His normally static eyes...they were glimmering. With confusion.

_You never answered my question. Where were you? Where did you go when you left me on the ship? You knew what happened afterward...but still you left me. Where were you?_

He knew he was being pushed into a corner now. There was no hostility in Red's questions, but he didn't know how to answer him. He muttered a few useless comments, trying to find anything to cover himself. Finally, he went out on a limb.

"B-Back on the ship before I left...you called me God, didn't you? You told me that I knew everything and everyone...didn't you?" Red gave him a thoughtful stare before nodding in his usual fashion. Derrick swallowed. "...I-It's true..."

_What..?_

"I left you on the ship, yes...I got sick. But I never really left you. I was still showing you what to do. I helped you defeat Lt. Surge and get your third badge...I showed you the way to the Rock Tunnel, and began to stumble around in it with you." Derrick felt awful acting this way, but as he spoke, he noticed Red's demeanor soften a bit. "How...how else did you think you had maneuvered your way around so easily? I was...guiding you." Red averted his gaze.

_I guess you're right...I never knew why or how I developed the urges to go where I went...they just happened. So you really are God after all._

Derrick suddenly wanted to take back every word he had said, but it was too late now. At least Red was no longer utterly confused by his poor word choice. He reluctantly nodded. "Can we move on to Lavender Town, now?" _So I can pretend I never said anything._ The inside of Derrick's heart almost ached. He would possibly regret this.

_Whatever you say...God._


	7. Disaster

"It wouldn't really do any good for us to go in there yet, Red," Derrick remarked after he saw Red's static figure heading toward the looming Pokemon Tower. He looked up at its disturbing beauty - what a notorious city this place was to begin with, but what a chill Derrick got from looking up at the many storeys this building could cast upon him in ways he couldn't experience while looking down at his GameBoy screen.

_What's wrong with going in now?_

"This is Pokemon Tower, and it's filled with ghost Pokemon."

_I don't fear ghosts...besides, I have you with me, God._

Derrick flinched at this name. He hated being referred to as someone he clearly wasn't. Attempting to shrug it off, he came to Red and gently grasped his shoulders.

"It won't do any good right now to barge in. The ghosts are shrouded as mist that scares your Pokemon motionless. Let's take the western Route to Celadon city, and we'll find a device that'll uncover the ghosts' true identities. Until then, it's useless to go inside." He gently tugged on Red's shoulder to guide him away from the towering building, but the character wouldn't budge.

"What's wrong?"

_...I want to go inside anyway._

"But there's no use in-"

_I believe what you said, God...I just feel like I should go inside anyway. And it feels odd...I've never felt obligated like this. Just let me do this, God...please?_

Derrick felt strange about Red being so adamant to go in a direction he had specifically stated was useless...almost as though he were pressing to the left on the D-Pad of his handheld, but his character was going to the right. He wasn't used to it.

"Alright," he muttered, releasing Red's shoulder, "if you feel so sure about it."

As the two crossed the threshold into the Pokemon Tower, Derrick could almost feel the essence of being in a cemetery. Frozen trainers stood among erect tombstones, staring. Female mediums mingled between others, their squared movements reminding him of spirit possession and sending a chill down his spine. He just wanted to get this over with so they could head toward Celadon City.

"Blue is upstairs waiting to battle you, Red," Derrick called over his shoulder as he headed toward the staircase that led to the second floor. As Red followed behind him, sure enough, Blue was in plain sight. He stood facing one of the many tombstones that filled up space in the tower. Finally he turned toward the two, and statically moved his body between them without any sort of acknowledgement, going down to the first floor. Derrick raised an eyebrow.

"...He was supposed to fight you," he exclaimed softly. "You were supposed to face him and his Pokemon so that you could advance to the next floors." Red seemed too distracted with everything around him to notice him talking.

_Are there any wild Pokemon on this floor, God...?_

"No...this is a special floor. You're supposed to face off against Blue on this floor...why did he just leave?"

_...He left a Pokeball behind._

"What are you talking about?" Derrick turned to Red, who was pointing toward the tombstone he once saw Blue standing in front of. At the foot of the tombstone lie a Pokeball. Derrick swallowed, and muttered, "Pick it up." As Red obeyed, the ball suddenly flashed, and released a captive Pokemon inside. It was a Raticate. Blue's Raticate. Red knelt by it, a soft pang of sadness flashing for a moment in his blank eyes.

_God, it's hurt. It's been poisoned in battle or something...what do we do?_

"What!?" Derrick blurted, remembering that Blue was without a Raticate after the battle with him on the S.S. Anne. Did he just leave it here to faint...?

"We have to take it to a Pokemon Center, of course. Come on!"

_No, God. It's too weak. It won't make it to the Pokemon Center. We have to give it some potions, or an antidote first. I have some, let me-_

"Don't worry about those. The Pokemon Center is free, and those aren't. Let's just take it with us. It'll be easier."

_But...it won't make it if we take it with us. The poison will spread too quickly._

"Then we'll worry about it after we get there. Come on, Red!"

_Can I please just give it one-_

"It's not that big of a deal, Red. We can heal it at the Pokemon Center. Now, come on."

Red remained at the Raticate's side motionless for a while, his hat obscuring his face more than Derrick had seen before. Finally, the trainer scooped the Pokemon in his arms and carried it with him as he and Derrick made their way back downstairs. Suddenly, Derrick heard the Raticate's crying sound, only it was more low-pitched, and slower. As though it had fainted. _Crap..._

_I told you it wouldn't make it..._

"Hey, at least we can take it to the Pokemon Center and heal it up, now." Suddenly, Red stopped.

_...What?_

"That's what I've been saying this whole time, Red. We'll take it to the Pokemon Center, whether or not it's fainted, and have it all better in a matter of seconds."

_What are you talking about...!?_

Derrick swiveled to face the trainer, startled. Red had always been very monotonous in his character; he had never heard him raise his voice before.

_You think this Raticate fainted?_

"Well, yeah...isn't that what happened?"

_When Pokemon lose the will to keep going, they don't faint. They die. In a Trainer battle, Pokemon are knocked out, but in the wild, they're killed. This Raticate was poisoned, and was going to die. That's why I kept suggesting we give it an antidote so that it would stop suffering. THEN we could take it to the Pokemon Center._

Derrick stood there, bewildered. The Pokemon had died...? He was so used to Pokemon being as good as new upon a simple trip to the Pokemon Center. It had never occurred to him that one could lose a Pokemon by circumstances like this. Red carried the Raticate toward an empty tombstone, and gently set its corpse inside, pausing silently for a moment, and standing to join Derrick stiffly.

_Your ignorance made an innocent Pokemon die...but whatever, I guess...let's go to the next town...God..._


	8. Nightmares

[DISCLAIMER - This chapter may not be for the faint of heart. You have been warned.]

Derrick allowed his eyes to glance at his counterpart occasionally as they made their way down Route 8 toward Celadon City. Red easily cut through the various trainers that challenged him on the way, but there was a different air about him that made Derrick uneasy. He knew that, somehow, Red was angry at him for letting the Raticate die. He felt bad about it, too, not being used to Pokemon ceasing to exist instead of simply lying immobile in his team's list, awaiting recovery at the Pokemon Center. But how was he to know?

"Red?"

The trainer made a silent acknowledgement toward the boy.

"I think I know what might cheer you up. A bit later on, we'll be able to try and find MissingNo."

_...What's MissingNo.?_

__"It's a glitch that-"

_Glitch?_

Derrick cursed under his breath at making another game reference. He bit his lip and rapidly scrambled around in his mind for a cover up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean glitch. It's this extremely rare Pokemon that no-one's ever seen or caught, and it's really difficult and dangerous to find. It lives in the ocean. Think you're up to finding and catching it?"

_Hmm...that'd be interesting. But how do you know about it if no-one's ever seen or caught it?_

"Because I'm God, remember?" he blurted, wishing he could kick himself for saying so.

Suddenly, Derrick's vision went completely white. He covered his eyes and groaned, but the white remained strong in his sight. His head pounded softly as he heard his name being called. His stomach gave an all-too familiar heave as, after what seemed like hours of staring into a white void, he regained his vision just in time for a prepared hand to slap him across the face. He rubbed his cheek and looked around in bewilderment.

"Dude, are you okay!?" came the voice of Scott. He was back in his friend's room with a sore cheek and a queasy stomach.

"What happened..?" was the first thing he could muster. Scott knelt before a dimmed GameBoy SP that had clattered to the floor when he smacked Derrick.

"Turn this thing off and let's find a place to burn it. You've been playing that Pokemon stuff for waaaaay too long." Derrick knit his brows together.

"What was I doing?"

"You had your head leaned against my bed as you were playing on that thing, and you had the creepiest face, too. It's like you were possessed or something!"

"I was out of the zone, that's all..." Scott set the SP on his bed and grabbed Derrick by the shoulders.

"Dude...you weren't even looking at the screen and you had played for like, 10 minutes before I finally decided to try and shake you out of it. You just had this blank expression on your face. That thing's taking over your head!"

Derrick sighed as he paced the coast of Cinnabar Island, trying to perform the Old Man Glitch. _I flew to Viridian City to talk to the old man, but why isn't MissingNo. popping up now? I'm not even getting any other Pokemon..._ He clacked his tongue in frustration and allowed Red to cross onto the shore again; he needed to continue on into the Pokemon Mansion anyway so he could take on the gym leader.

"Derrick, it's 1am! Lights out!"

"'Kay, mom," Derrick responded, pulling the switch on his bedside lamp and leaning against his pillow as he maneuvered Red into the mansion. As Red took his first steps into the mansion, he stopped, and a text box appeared beneath him on the screen. It read:

RED: Nice try.

Derrick's eyes widened as he stared dumbly at the screen, rereading the text. Had Red just spoken to him through the game? Pulling his bed covers to his chin, he flicked the SP's power off and laid the device on the floor, rolling over and nestling into his covers. He needed some sleep.

That evening, Derrick dreamed vividly. A pale body loomed behind him as he walked in the void of his dream. As he caught a glimpse of it, he began to jog in an attempt to shrug the entity from his presence, but it only got closer. He dared not look back at it as his jog soon turned into a run, then a sprint. Still the body stayed close to him, arms reaching out. Suddenly, Derrick was jerked into the creature's grasp. The entity faced him about and ferociously began clawing at his chest cavity. Derrick could only watch in horror, looking dead into the face of his captor. It was a little boy with bright, red eyes, dark hair, and a Pokemon cap.


	9. Reality Check

"Derrick, can you help me wash dishes down here? I could use a hand."

The boy swallowed absently, pressing START on his Gameboy SP and finding the Pidgeot in his team, commanding it to Fly to Fuchsia City. His glazed eyes followed the pixelated bird as it flew back and forth across the screen, carrying Red to his desired destination. The upbeat theme for the City struck up as Red landed, but Derrick instead pressed the volume on the side of his handheld down to mute it, bringing it from his eyes so he could wipe his hand down his face and think. Maybe a run through the Safari Zone would help change the pace.

"_Derrick!"_

"What is it, mom!?" he called back, trying to coat the annoyance in his voice.

"Come down here and help me with these dishes!" came the equally annoyed response. Derrick snapped his SP shut, placing it on his bed as he slid from atop of it and exited his room, making his way down the stairs as his mother continued to reprimand him: "I had to call you four times before you even answered. If you were that busy why didn't you just tell me? It's probably that game - you've been playing it entirely too much lately!"

"You're exaggerating, mom," Derrick retorted half-heartedly, stepping into the kitchen and finding a clean cloth to help her dry dishes with. "I haven't played it _that_ often."

"I beg to differ," his mother pressed, pausing her washing to place wet fingers at his chin and turn his face toward her, earning her an embarrassed groan from her son. "Look at you. Look at your eyes! You've hardly been sleeping because you've played that game so often."

Derrick softly pulled from his mother's grip on his chin, rubbing the bags beneath his eyes a bit. He will admit, he hadn't gotten as much sleep as he wished. "It's not the game, mom," he murmured, wiping along his face once more. "My system's back light won't work with this game, so I can't play it into the early morning or anything. It's been those nightmares." His mother's expression softened a bit at that.

"The one from those other times...you're still having those?" she asked. As her son nodded, she crossed her arms and pursed her lip, eyes concerned. "That's strange. Usually recurring dreams like that mean something special." Derrick gave a light shrug, resuming his drying duty. When he was reluctant to meet her eyes, she raised an eyebrow. "Derrick, you can't hide forever. If you're having the same dream over and over, then you probably should begin digging up a few skeletons you may have forgotten to confront."

"Maybe..." he responded, biting his lip.

Derrick maneuvered Red through the Safari Zone, pacing the character back and forth in the tall grass, even making him stand still and simply facing him different directions to save steps, hoping for a good Pokemon.

"Dude, you're hopeless," remarked Scott, peeking over at him from his phone and smirking. "I'll never know what you see in those sorts of games."

"It'd be awesome if I could find a Chancey," she whispered to himself, having not heard his friend, running or throwing bait at various wild Pokemon as he went. As he gradually became more bold in his steps, making Red walk more and more instead of reserving steps in the Zone, the bells sounded for his time to quit. "Bah," he blurted in defeat, watching his character return to the Safari Zone's lobby.

"No luck?" his friend muttered with a roll of the eyes.

"Hmm?" came the absent reply. Scott's mouth curled into a frown.

"Okay, screw that game!" she blared, bring his phone to his lap. "Turn that thing off and let's actually do something! We haven't been hanging out that much this summer. Let's go find you and me a ladyfriend so maybe this summer won't be so dull, because all you've been doing when we hang out is play on that stupid SP and hardly pay attention to the world. I don't know what your deal is lately, but we need to get you...Derrick...wait, are you okay?"

Derrick lifted his face toward his friend, exposing how clammily white it had become so suddenly. The boy doubled over a bit, nausea filling his mind and stomach. He saw his friend come to his aid, fanning his head, shaking him, shouting into his ear, but the more nauseous he got, the less he could hear or feel Scott with him. In fact, he couldn't feel or hear anything, it seemed. With painful gradualness, his nausea subsided, and he found himself in Pallet Town. He also saw Red standing, staring at his small house.

"I thought we were supposed to be in the Fuchsia City," she muttered, hoping almost that Red couldn't hear him.

_...I did, too. But we're here again._

__Derrick looked around. He knew Pallet Town's tiny structure like the back of his hand, but it seemed surprisingly quiet now. There was no heartfelt background music like he was used to, and everything looked excessively static.

_It's a bit strange_, Red muttered, still staring at his house. Derrick joined him after a bit of wandering, looking over to his his eyes pasted to the building.

"What's strange?" he asked, hoping that would draw his eyes from the building. It was beginning to unnerve him.

_Well...many things, actually. It's strange that we somehow are back to the beginning place after a run in the Safari Zone, but...it's more strange how little I know about this place. God...was I born here?_

"Well, yeah," came the boy's reply, as he leaned back against one of the rows of fence erected near his house. "You were born here and lived here until you decided to become a Pokemon master."

_But that can't be...I don't know anything about this place. I don't even remember being raised here._ Derrick swallowed as Red's eyes finally broke from the house to meet his own. _The first thing I remember from this place is waking up in a room and going downstairs from this house and finding my way into tall grass, where I met Professor Oak. I had never met him before then. I had never met my rival, either. Even my 'mother'..._

"That's your mother, Red," Derrick tried to reassure him. Red's eyes blazed for a moment at the remark. He beckoned Derrick follow him into the house where his mother sat at the table staring at the wall opposite from her.

_This is my mother? Does she know anything about me? Does she ever mention me to other people?_

__Derrick couldn't respond. He only bit his lip and stared at Red's less-than-neutral expression.

_She says the exact same thing whenever I talk to her now. Before I met Professor Oak, she would tell me that kids my age normally leave home, but after I started training Pokemon, she simply heals my team and wishes me off. She doesn't ask me to sit down and talk about my travels, or compliments me on how well I've been raising my Pokemon. She's...she's hardly even human!_

__Derrick watched the sprite of his character's mother as it remained perfectly still, most likely waiting on her son to talk to her so she could heal his Pokemon. She couldn't believe how right Red sounded.

_I couldn't have been born here, from a static mother who talks about only two things, and with people I hardly know...God, where was I really born?_


	10. Breaking the Mold

Derrick swallowed heavily, trying to look anywhere in the static Pallet Town that he could other than into Red's eyes. The gaze continued to bore into his soul, just like the eyes of the boy in his recent nightmares. He hadn't answered Red's question.

_God, did you hear my question? I asked if I was born here._

__"Yes...!" the Derrick snapped, a bit more angrily than he would have preferred. "That's your mother in the living room here, your rival is out collecting badges and trying to beat you to the Pokemon League, and he's lived next door to you all this time. Professor Oak has had this adventure planned for you for-"

_You're lying to me!_ Derrick flinched outright at the remark. Red had never raised his voice before. He was so used to it being static and almost monotonous, just like the landscape in which they both stood. _Where was I really born?_

__"You were born here, Red," Derrick pressed, his finger shooting out from a balled fist and pointing firmly to the floor of Red's home. "This - Pallet Town - is your home. You were raised in this very house."

_Then why do I not remember anything beyond the day that I got my first Pokemon? Why does my own mother not show any kindness or care for me when I visit her!? Why have I never seen any of these wild Pokemon before and have to use this device to identify them?_Red reached into his bag and whipped out his Pokedex, brandishing it toward his companion, his knuckles white as he gripped it hard. Derrick finally brought his eyes to the trainer, surprised to see an almost sad expression on his face, his eyes to the floor. _Why does it seem like my life started on that day?_

__Derrick couldn't take it anymore. He wished more than ever that the nausea would return, everything blurring before his eyes before he returned to reality instead of this insane dream, if it even was a dream. He pinched himself sharply, letting out small yelps of pain as he pushed through, trying to wake himself up in any way that he could. As he did, he could see Red raise his eyes to see what he was doing, and the gaze turned feral. He dug into his belt loops for a Pokeball, tossing it in the middle of the house and with a flash of light, a Victreebell came into view.

_Victreebell, subdue him,_ Red commanded the grass Pokemon. The Victreebell let out a screech, slender vines stretching out from its body and wrapping around Derrick's body. The vines held firm, despite Derrick's panicked wiggling about in the attempt to get free. Red approached him, almost menacingly, and brought his usually static eyes close to Derrick's.

_You're not leaving me again, God,_ the trainer hissed._ You're going to answer my questions - truthfully! I know you're hiding something, and I won't let you get away without telling me the truth._Derrick could hardly breath in the creature's hold, his panic rising by the moment. He finally nodded rapidly in agreement, hoping that would decrease the pressure of the Victreebell's vines. And it did. He took a deep breath, softly panting as its hold on him loosened enough for him to comfortably rest in the tendrils.

"I warn you, though," Derrick responded, his heart pounding in his chest as he chose his words carefully. "I don't feel like it is right for you to know the truth...you may not like what you hear."

_At this point...any sort of closure is better than being in the dark a moment longer._ Derrick watched as Red took a seat at the table that his mother sat at, summoning his Victreebell to carry Derrick over to another seat so he could explain everything. The trainer's eyes looked sullen, languid almost. For the first time in Derrick's life, it occurred to him that perhaps Red had a soul - maybe not a dynamic soul like what he had, but a soul nonetheless. It was going to kill him to explain everything, but he knew that if he made one slip, the Victreebell's tendrils may very well squeeze the life out of him. He heaved a deep breath.

"Your life is a game," Derrick spoke softly, seeing the trainer's eyebrows furrow immediately. "Everything that we've seen here is a game, and you are the star...you did honestly grow up here, but...you were never meant to have any manifested existence until the day that you got your first Pokemon...just like you said. The people that you speak to here have programmed words to say, and will never say anything that they're not meant to...they're all here to support you on your journey."

_So...I'm the only actually living person in this place...?_Red asked, his voice like that of a child. Derrick gave a shaky nod of the head. _God...why would you make a world like this?_

__"Th-That's another thing," he added, swallowing hard again. He felt like he was giving a public speech with the way his voice trembled. "I'm...not God. I simply control your game from a device...your real Gods live in a place where there are many of the same game...and other people do the same thing to a copy of you." This left the trainer speechless. In the already silent environment of Pallet Town, the silence was almost as painful as the vines wrapped around Derrick's torso. He watched Red sulk motionless for what seemed like hours until the trainer suddenly gestured toward the Victreebell. The vine's suddenly left Derrick's body, and Red stood abruptly from his seat, drawing the Pokemon back into its Pokeball and making his way toward the door.

_Nobody controls me..._he growled, his voice barely audible as he stepped outside. Derrick followed, watching Red summon another Pokemon - his Pidgeot - and climb on top of its back.

"What are you doing!?" Derrick called out over the Pidgeot's powerful wings beginning to flap.

_Nobody controls me, God_, came the same monotonous reply that he was used to. _I control myself._ With that, the Pidgeot took flight, easily soaring high above Derrick, despite his attempt to grab hold of the creature, and it flew off, in the direction of Cinnabar island. Derrick immediately resumed pinching himself to wake himself up. He needed control of the game again! He dashed back into Red's house, and froze. The trainer had been in such a hurry to leave that he forgot his bag. Derrick picked it up, rustling though its contents - Super Potions, Antidotes, TMS...wait.

"Yes...!" Derrick hissed excitedly, opening the TM case and finding Red's Hidden Machine for Fly. He could catch up to him, if only he had a Pokemon himself that could Fly. He tapped the HM against his head rapidly, trying to think. His thinking led him to exit the house once again, and he looked up into the sky, seeing Red's Pidgeot as only a small dot on the horizon. "How can I catch a Pokemon...?" he asked himself, scanning all of Pallet Town. He couldn't just wrestle a Pokemon with his bare hands. He needed one that was already caught. Then his eyes drifted to Professor Oak's Laboratory.


End file.
